Legacy of Four
by zephyrelli
Summary: A marauder story. The adventure that proved the previous generation. The four houses compete in dangerous tasks for glory, which will win? Will Sirius find out about Lupin's secret? Who is Sirius' love? Who will survive? Who will die?
1. The Legacy

**Welcome! **

"Moony!" yelled James and Sirius simultaneously, "Hey, turn around already!"

Remus swiveled on the platform, just in time to catch a running Sirius and James, their luggage momentarily abandoned. Boarding the Hogwarts Express, they rejoined their friends with huge grins as they ate their chocolate frogs and laughed. Throughout the train ride they discussed the Quidditch triumphs of the summer with loud arguments between James and Reese as they argued for their respective team. They recollected their summer mischief with grand hand gestures, accompanied by the disapproving tittering of Molly. They talked as only the greatest of friends could.

Not long afterwards they all sat at the Gryffindor bench for their sixth Hogwarts feast. You could hear James and Remus' stomachs growling loudly in anticipation for the banquet. Sirius listened to the familiar speeches, clapping for each new Gryffindor, disregarding the new rules as usual. Sirius' motto is rules are made to be broken, as he has proved so very many times. He looked around at the familiar room, and the many familiar faces, his friends, his enemies. He could see Snape, Lucius, Avery and all their other little dark wizard wannabe friends. Snape looked over, and Sirius caught his gaze, made a disgusted face while mouthing the word "Snivelus," and then promptly looked away. He turned from Snape to meet the face of Reese, her blue eyes alight in restrained giggles. Dumbledore paused and then deviated from his normal path, making Sirius look up and cease from whispering to Reese at his side.

"This year we shall be resurrecting an old tradition," Dumbledore announced, capturing the attention of nearly every student, except maybe the first-years still gazing at the enchanted sky-like ceiling. "A tradition of a competition between the houses of our dear Hogwarts. It is a competition to test valor, bravery, cunning, and skill. We shall be choosing four students to represent each house. The four students who best demonstrate the value regarded most highly by their individual house. There will be a series of tests, tests that, if won, can give a person great recognition, but believe me they are not easy. Joining this competition is not a decision that should be taken lightly by anyone," Dumbledore described in a warning tone.

Sirius started grinning in enthusiasm, the same grin plastered on Reese's face, looking at each other they knew what they would be doing this year.

"To enter one must simply write their name on a slip of parchment, and simply through it in the air, in this very room," Dumbledore finished, as slips of paper flew towards the ceiling.

Sirius scrawled his name on the first slip of paper he found, and flung it into the air. His slip slowly floated twisting and turning into the air, followed by slips sent by James and Reese. An elegant "G" drew itself into the back, with the bold colors of the Gryffindor house. They glided to the ceiling with the other hastily written entries.

"Moony!" yelled James and Sirius simultaneously, "Hey, turn around already!"

Remus swiveled on the platform, just in time to catch a running Sirius and James, their luggage momentarily abandoned. Boarding the Hogwarts Express, they rejoined their friends with huge grins as they ate their chocolate frogs and laughed. Throughout the train ride they discussed the Quidditch triumphs of the summer with loud arguments between James and Reese as they argued for their respective team. They recollected their summer mischief with grand hand gestures, accompanied by the disapproving tittering of Molly. They talked as only the greatest of friends could.

Not long afterwards they all sat at the Gryffindor bench for their sixth Hogwarts feast. You could hear James and Remus' stomachs growling loudly in anticipation for the banquet. Sirius listened to the familiar speeches, clapping for each new Gryffindor, disregarding the new rules as usual. Sirius' motto is rules are made to be broken, as he has proved so very many times. He looked around at the familiar room, and the many familiar faces, his friends, his enemies. He could see Snape, Lucius, Avery and all their other little dark wizard wannabe friends. Snape looked over, and Sirius caught his gaze, made a disgusted face while mouthing the word "Snivelus," and then promptly looked away. He turned from Snape to meet the face of Reese, her blue eyes alight in restrained giggles. Dumbledore paused and then deviated from his normal path, making Sirius look up and cease from whispering to Reese at his side.

"This year we shall be resurrecting an old tradition," Dumbledore announced, capturing the attention of nearly every student, except maybe the first-years still gazing at the enchanted sky-like ceiling. "A tradition of a competition between the houses of our dear Hogwarts. It is a competition to test valor, bravery, cunning, and skill. We shall be choosing four students to represent each house. The four students who best demonstrate the value regarded most highly by their individual house. There will be a series of tests, tests that, if won, can give a person great recognition, but believe me they are not easy. Joining this competition is not a decision that should be taken lightly by anyone," Dumbledore described in a warning tone.

Sirius started grinning in enthusiasm, the same grin plastered on Reese's face, looking at each other they knew what they would be doing this year.

"To enter one must simply write their name on a slip of parchment, and simply through it in the air, in this very room," Dumbledore finished, as slips of paper flew towards the ceiling.

Sirius scrawled his name on the first slip of paper he found, and flung it into the air. His slip slowly floated twisting and turning into the air, followed by slips sent by James and Reese. An elegant "G" drew itself into the back, with the bold colors of the Gryffindor house. They glided to the ceiling with the other hastily written entries.

**Leave some words if you have the time :)**


	2. You Won't be Chosen

Reese's small hand held lightly in his own, Sirius sauntered into the Great Hall. Looking at Reese's hands no one would have believed that they were they hands of a skilled beater. She was the best beater for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, better than Sirius himself. She had deadly aim with the bat, especially against those Slytherin bastards.

"The expression, the expression on his face, it was pr-" Sirius recounted to Reese, cracking up mid-sentence, his dark curly hair falling into his face.

"Priceless, trust me I know, I was there! Malfoy looked as though he had smelled something truly awful! And when he yelped like a little girl, when his bum hit the ground!" Reese continued with barely restrained laughter.

"Better yet, when his blond hair got tangled in the broom! Best. Quidditch. Moment. EVER!" Sirius said giving into the laughter.

Sirius and Reese were laughing loud enough for the whole hall to hear them, no one paid them any mind though, this was their normal entrance. Sitting down next to James and Lily, Sirius saw Severus, failing to keep his greasy black locks out of his face, Lucius, and Avery writing their own names on slips of paper, and throwing them into the air, to watch them float off. Sirius started to laugh as he saw this. Lucius looked up to see this.

"What do you want dog?" Lucius spat.

"Blondie and, you too, Snivellus, you think you actually have a chance at being chosen? Do you?" Sirius proclaimed to the room, as he pulled James out of his seat and walked towards Snape and Lucius.

"You two think you are actually clever?" James followed Sirius' comment with his own, "Or whatever sort of person Slytheirn cares about besides power hungry morons."

Lily took one look at the pure distaste etched on Snape's odd features, and long nose, and the anger written on Lucius' face. Lily wanting to dispel an imminent fight pleaded,

"Come on guys, leave poor Sev alone, he didn't do anything to you guys. Stop please."

James gave into Lily turning and heading back, but Sirius shook her hand off and continued to head towards the two.

"Hey Blondie, you think you are going to get chosen on good looks? I know blonds are supposed to be attractive and everything, but just some advice I don't think its working out for you," Sirius said in a loud mocking tone, as people started snickering around them.

"_Patrificus Totalus," _Lucius muttered under his breath, but Sirius sidestepped the curse.

Sirius nearly whipped out his wand, but in the corner of his eye he noticed McGonagall, striding into the Hall. Sirius swiveled on his foot and began to walk back towards his friends, giving McGonagall a lopsided grin as he passed.

"Good one," muttered James and Reese to Sirius, to the disapproving look of Lily.


	3. Snivellus Schemes

"Prongs, why did you wake me up again? What are we going to go do this time of night?" Sirius whined to James.

"Padfoot, I told you I wanted to find that room I saw in the book, and we can't go snooping for it in the day!" James whispered as convincingly as possible to Sirius.

"Fine I get that, but can't we just turn Animagi, we spent all that time learning how to do it! Have you checked the map for your "special" room? I don't want to walk under your musty cloak anymore," Sirius replied muttering the last part.

"Yeah, a huge black dog and a stag, right normal thing to see. If anyone ran into us they would think they have gone mad! I haven't checked the map, check it will you Sirius? Only bloody good idea you have come up with this whole sixth year so far," James said talking more to himself, Sirius was not paying much attention because he was looking at the map.

"Blimey, what is that no good little Sn—" exclaimed Sirius, but getting cut off by James in what had turned into two separate instances of talking to oneself.

"Also my cloak is not musty! It has done a bleeding good job of keeping you invisible! You should be grateful. Did you find anything?" James finished finally merging the two conversations.

"Blimey James, that little rat is up to something! Here," Sirius said, shoving it in James' face, Sirius' finger firmly on a two footprints on the Marauder's Map.

"What's little Snivelly doing in the library at this time at night? The restricted section nonetheless!" James said astounded.

"Well I can understand why he is in the restricted section, there is not better time to go, as I know from experience," Sirius said lightly, but changing his tone to more serious one, "Let's go check on the little rat. James come on."

Original purpose forgotten, they started to head over to the library, hidden under James' cloak of invisibility and the Marauder's Map in hand.

They walked by the last towering bookcase and slipped by the rope separating the restricted section from the rest of the library. Like a little rope would keep anyone out Sirius thought, as he lit his wand with a quick _lumos. _They walked into the restricted area, and while slipping off the cloak saying together quietly,

"Snivellus. Snivellus, come out, come out wherever you are!"

"Snivelly, we know you're there, you can't hide," James said to the empty air, as they walked down the aisles coming to the last one. Knowing he must be in the last aisle both James and Sirius simultaneously lifted their wands. Walking around a corner Sirius heard a muttered,

"_Confundus,"_ from a more greasy than normal Severus, whose eyes were currently darting around for an escape. Finding none he tried to look Sirius boldly in the eye, but his cowardice betrayed him.

Sirius had simply waved the spell away with a counter spell, and looking directly at Snape said,

"Tut-tut-tut little Snivellus is up to no good, why don't you tell the big boys what you're up to?" Sirius said condescendingly as he looked at Snape a couple inches below him.

"None of your business, mutt," Snape whispered dripping resentment.

A loud thump reverberated through the library, making Sirius and James instinctively duck into an aisle, cloak out and ready. Severus, taking the opportunity, ran out of the restricted section and was gone, leaving the books he was looking at dumped on the floor. Sirius and James threw on the invisibility cloak and edged out of the library. They turned a corner and nearly ran into a very disheveled Remus.

"Moony, it was you who made all the noise? Blimey, you scared us half to death! What are you doing down here anyway?" said what looked like a talking bookshelf, to Remus. Sirius, seeing Remus' obvious confusion pulled the invisibility cloak off of him and James.

"Oh its you, don't go scaring me like that," Remus breathed obviously relieved.

"Scared you? You scared us!" James argued.

"Oh, well, sorry. I saw your beds empty so I went looking for you. And well, I kinda tripped when I heard your voices. Severus was down here? I heard his voice." Remus replied, rubbing the back of his head with a guilty look on his face.

"Oh yeah,," James said turning to Sirius, "Lets go see what little Snivellus was up to," James finished talking turned around and headed back to the restricted section. Sirius and Remus glanced at each other, then followed behind James.

When they caught up to him, he was already leafing through the books Sirius left behind. James had both books in his hands.

"What would he want with these? He definitely did not get this one in the restricted section," pointing at a copy of _Midnight Beasts and their Habits_, "I mean I've leafed through this book. But this book he got here," pointing to _Ancient Happenings and the Powerful Objects of Old, _"This one looks exciting. I cannot be sure what Snivellus was looking at because the books got knocked over as he ran out."

"Do you—Do—Do you think he knows? He can't. He just—He just can't know. Can he? Can he know about me?" Stammered a very nervous Remus as he pointed to the first book, and looked at James for reassurance.

"There's no way he could know, don't worry Moony. Lets get out of here I think someone's coming," James said to Remus calming him down.

Surely enough a light appeared in the distance. They pulled the cloak over themselves, their feet just poking out of the bottom, but it was too dark to notice them. They headed back to Gryffindor tower without a word, each wondering what Severus was up to.


	4. Floating Names

Finally Sirius breathed to himself, they can go ahead and choose his name. Its been three weeks of school, and they have finally decided to choose the names for the Legacy of the Four. Sirius looked up and down in the mirror, tucking in his normally loose shirt and attempting to tame his curly mess of hair. Sirius wanted to look impressive when they called his name.

"What's got into you? You look like a dork," Remus laughed at Sirius.

Sirius glared at Remus as he untucked his shirt,

"Not my fault you didn't enter. Its going to be so great when they call Reese and me. This is what I've been waiting for!" Sirius said still looking in the mirror.

"Jittery aren't we?" James commented casually walking back into their room, "I entered in it too, but you don't see me preening myself!"

"You don't want to get chosen?" Sirius said dumbfounded.

"Of course I want to get chosen! I just don't obsess over it! This is all you have been talking about since they announced it! You sit there and fantasize what it would be like to win!" said an exasperated James with a Remus nodding in the background.

"At least Reese is as excited as I am," Sirius muttered as he turned from the mirror and walked out.

Reese stood outside the Great Hall hand out waiting for Sirius. When he saw her he smiled taking her hand in his. Grinning confidently, they walked into the Great hall. James and Remus followed them into the Hall, James' hand holding Lily's. Looking up at the sea of paper slips Sirius winced. The whole school must have submitted their names.

As everyone took their seats, Dumbledore stood before the school. He slowly looked at the students before him, smiled slowly and looked up at the ceiling.

"Ahh," sighed Dumbledore, "This is what you have all been waiting for. Now before I announce the names—Patience everyone," he said to the annoyed glances of the students, "This competition is very serious and dangerous even. This competition is based on an old legend from the creation of Hogwarts. The four founders of this school: Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Salazar Slytherin, and Godric Gryffindor, created an object, an object of extreme power. The identity of this object has been lost in history, as has the location of it, but rumor has it that it is still in the school. Many hundreds of years ago Hogwarts emptied the school and allowed a certain number of students to go in and look for the item, as a sort of competition, to see if anyone could actually find it. That is the legend this competition is based off of," the anticipation of the students obviously did not affect Dumbledore as he calmly explained this to the them.

"God, why won't the old coot get on with it already?" Sirius whined to nobody in particular.

"I think I saw that story in the bo—" James whispered to Sirius, but he got cut off by Dumbledore's booming voice.

"So I guess its time to choose the names for the competition isn't it," Dumbledore announced as he quietly laughed to himself as the whole school moved to the tip of their seats. Dumbledore pointed to the ceiling, and part of it started to shift.

Sirius looked up to see all the slips with a yellow "H" etched on the back twist together. A shape started to form from the chaos, a small dense paper badger formed and gracefully leapt from non-existent ledge to non-existent ledge. It stopped to stand in the air by the shoulder of Dumbledore. The beaver deposited four slips in the outstretched his outstretched hand. The beaver looked up at the students and with a curious nod it disappeared in a bright yellow flame. This got open-mouthed stares from many of the students and gasps from the rest. Sirius on the other hand paid little attention to the beautiful magic because he had his eyes locked on the slips in Dumbledore's hand.

"Lets get on with this," Dumbledore began to read the names with long pauses in between each of them, "Alcott Pike, Nymphadora Tonks, Rodney Cammer, and Valerie Nichol. Congratulations to all of you! Will you please join me up here? These are the students chosen as most loyal and honest in the Hufflepuff House." They all stood up and joined Dumbledore on stage. Both boys were tall and lanky with shaggy hair. The girl named Valerie was small and thin, but walked with confidence. Nymphadora was a girl everyone knew for her hair that never stays the same color. It changes nearly everyday. Right now it was a shocking blue and it bounced as she strutted on stage.

"She's amazing isn't she?" Remus mumbled dreamily.

Sirius gave Remus a questioning look, then promptly ignored him. The ones chosen were definitely the best Hufflepuff has. One of them, Nymphadora, has been known to be able to transfigure an Acromantula into a tray and have it follow behind her with her books. They were extremely talented wizards. Sirius' confidence went down a couple of notches, but he thought he was on par with the Hufflepuff wizards.

Once again Dumbledore pointed his wand into the air. The slips with an elegant "R" began to take flight. A huge raven formed and it beat its massive wings and cawed loudly. It swooped around the room causing papers and various other things to fly around. It landed on top of Dumbledore's head and cawed as though it was challenging the room. It then deposited the four slips in the open hand of Dumbledore. It flew back to the ceiling of the Hall and with outstretched wings it disappeared in a flash of purple fire.

"And the chosen from the House of the Ravenclaw that best demonstrate wit and creativity are the following: Penelope Belltear, Lysander Belby, Xenophilus Lovegood, and Eve Marione. They each stood as their name was called to great cheers from each of their house. Penelope and Lysander were sitting next to each other and they hugged as they stood together to the cheers of their friends. Eve was beaming as she walked on

stage with Xenophilius right behind her trying to look invisible. Although Xenophilius was not one who searched for recognition, he still had impressive skill. The four them together were responsible for over half the Hufflepuff house points. This was going to be another group to be reckoned with, Sirius thought nervously.

For the third time Dumbledore raised his wand and half the remaining slips began to morph into a long twisting form. A massive snake appeared and began to weave its way up the floor between the benches at great speed. It knocked people over on its way and hissed towards the Gryffindors. It wound its way towards Dumbledore, and upon reaching him it encircled Dumbledore's body as if to crush him. It then disappeared in a blast of green fire, momentarily obscuring Dumbledore's form. When the fire faded Dumbledore stood unfazed and still smiling with four pieces of paper held lightly in his hands.

"If Severus or Lucius get picked we will never hear the end of this," James muttered to no one in particular.

"The students who show the most cunning and ambition in the Slytherin house are, Bellatrix Lestrange, Severus Snape, Talli Hunst, and Lucius Malfoy."

"Bloody Hell," exclaimed Sirius and Reese simultaneously.

"At least this will allow us to beat them up without getting in trouble," whispered James nudging Sirius.

When Severus and Lucius' names were called they both shared a really childish expressions of joy, but then tried to adapt a nonchalant feel, but they ended up looking like fools. Bellatrix and Talli both gave the room identical condescending looks and strutted on stage. The Slytherin table exploded in cheer, but not a single other table made any noise. Sirius rolled his eyes.

"We have one last House to choose our contestants from, the Gryffindors!" announced Dumbledore.

For the last time Dumbledore raised his wand. The remainder of the slips took flight and began to shift like the rest of the slips before. A majestic lion came into existence. It floated above the school and gave a reverberating roar. It took one powerful leap to reach Dumbledore. It bowed down before him, noticeably more friendly than the encasing the snake gave him. After dropping the four slips into Dumbledore's hand it turned and bowed also to the Gryffindors, gave a mighty roar and disappeared in a deep red flame.

Sirius kept repeating in his head _Please be me. Please be me. _He was nervous and it was really unlike him. He clutched Reese's hand, who clutched back with similar excitement. James on the other hand was cool and collected preferring to whisper to Lily quietly. Sirius elbowed him making him look up to Dumbledore

"And the most courageous and chivalrous people in the house of Gryffindor are: James Potter, Sirius Black—" Dumbledore gets cut off by a very happy Sirius.

"Yes," he exclaims loudly making everyone nearby look in his direction, but Sirius doesn't care what they think.

"Eliza Harrison, and Reese Clarke." Dumbledore says with finality, after glancing at Sirius.

Reese and Sirius took a quick kiss while they were sitting down and no one could yet find them. Both Reese and Sirius had to retain themselves from running onstage. He looked up to their and saw a very angry Snape and Lucius, whom h winked at. Sirius on the other hand was beaming his lopsided grin. He soaked up the applause and cheers, this was great he had Reese to face this with him and also his best friend James. This was going to be the dream team. Eliza was also an extremely skillful wizard. She was Head Girl and a really good one at that. She was very friendly, and although Sirius had never himself talked to her, he thought she would be a great addition to the team, no an _essential_ addition. James still looked cool and casual, but he was smiling slightly, a very confident air surrounding him. Sirius shook Dumbledore's hand. As he walked toward the end of the line he stepped on Severus' foot, making him yelp to the laughter of the students. He also noticed that the majority of the contestants were seventh years, a few sixth years, and exactly one fifth year, that wicked Bellatrix.

"Whoops sorry Snivellus," Sirius chuckled watching Severus' long beak like nose turn scarlet.

"Students of Hogwarts, our contestants have been chosen. We have sixteen of the most talented students at our school up here with me right now. They will be pitted against each other in five competitions, four small contests and one large one. These competitions will test each and every one of them, push them to their limits, and trust me for all of you not competing it will be great entertainment. The first competition will be three weeks from now. I will be giving you no hint about it so prepare for anything. Good luck to you all and may the best house win." Dumbledore finished.

**Leave some words! **


	5. Moon

James and Remus were leaving potions talking loudly about who would win the Felix Felicis in the contest next week. Sirius caught up with them and joined in their conversation betting that neither James nor Remus would win it.

"Umm, guys it's the full moon tonight… So, ummm… yeah," Remus said quietly to both James and Sirius when they were out of earshot of other students.

"No problem," said James giving Remus a slap on the shoulder, "You shouldn't be embarrassed about it, you know that. We got your back and we always have."Sirius and James were grinning at Remus reassuringly as they rounded the corner and ran straight into Severus leaning against the wall with an expression that looked like the border between curiosity and suspicion.

"What are you looking at you slimey git?" Sirius exclaimed pushing by Severus.

Severus barely paid Sirius any mind and instead stared absently and Remus.

"Is it just me or is Snivellus acting unusual?" James wondered when they had passed Severus.

"Snivellus always acts odd, he looks weird as well. If you hadn't noticed yet," Sirius replied dismissing James.

"No, like really weird, weird for Snivellus," James still argued.

"I agree with James, back there he didn't even try to fight back. Also remember when we found him in the restricted section? He is up to something," Remus added to James' statement.

"Oh yeah, I had something I wanted to tell you ages ago. The legend that the Legacy of the Four competition is based off of was in the book Snivelly was looking at! I remember seeing it somewhere," remembered James.

"So you think Snivelly is up to something having to do with the competition?" Sirius asked concerned.

"Maybe, but watch out he is definitely up to no good," James replied, as they walked into the Great Hall for lunch, making further conversation on the matter impossible.

Later that night, right after everyone in the else had gone to be, the curtains pulled around their beds, Remus, James, and Sirius slipped out of the room. James and Sirius followed close behind Remus under the invisibility cloak, with the Marauder's Map in hand.

"Snivelly is out of bed again!" Sirius exclaimed loudly to the shushing of James and Remus.

"Where is he this time?" James questioned.

"He's down a little past the Slytherin Dungeons," Sirius continued.

"Severus is up to somhting you can count on that, its time we figure it out." James finished.

"Shoot Dumbledore's coming, stop moving," whispered Sirius pointing towards the map ending the conversation.

Dumbledore walked down the hall and upon seeing Remus he smiled and nodded. When he walked past Remus he stared directly into the place James and Sirius stood. Both of the boys could have sworn they saw the slightest smile flicker on Dumbledore's ancient wrinkled face.

All three walked out of the school building and up towards the tree that has been on school grounds for a little over six years, the Whomping Willow. James pulled the cloak off of both him and Sirius and handed it to Remus, who had a pained expression on his face. James' form morphed until two long antlers sprouted from an animal head attached to a long shorthaired body with four thin legs. James had been replaced with the powerful body of a stag. Sirius and Remus gave him the nickname Prongs because of this transformation. Sirius on the other hand had bent down on all fours and thick black hair sprouted from his body. Sirius' had soon turned into a large black dog, giving him the nickname Padfoot. James and Lupin often joked that he resembled the Grim, and it would be the perfect way to go around scaring people. Remus on the other hand was given the name Moony in an attempt to lighten his situation.

Remus winced loudly as his own transformation began. He envied them so much, they could transform so easily and at their own will. He on the other hand lost all semblance of himself. Without their presence though, he would hurt himself or anyone else nearby. He touched the couple of long self inflicted scars slightly visible on his face. He had had to go through the transformation alone until the year before, when Sirius and James had succeeded in transforming into Animagus.

Remus was bitten by Fenrir Greyback when he was six years old. Ever since then he dreaded each full moon. It wasn't the transformation he feared the most, but the fear he would hurt someone else. He also did not want to go to Hogwarts initially, but Dumbledore had insisted that he come. Upon coming to Hogwarts he would spend each full moon in the shrieking shack where he could hurt no one but himself. That's where the rumor of it being the most haunted house in Britain came from. His screams of agony could be heard in even the distant Hogsmeade. He chuckled whenever he heard people talk about it, but that was the only thing he found funny about the whole ordeal. He tried to keep it secret, even from Sirius and James, but they found out second year and insisted on doing something. It took them weeks to figure out what to do, but finally they decided on becoming animagus. It was the only safe option. After three long years they finally broke through and became animagi, and had helped him through the transformation every time since. Although Remus would never admit this, it was probably the greatest thing anyone had ever done for him.

"Guys come on we have to hur-," Remus said but he could not finish, letting out a moan of pain. Remus' face was contorted in hurt and his body was throbbing. He looked down at the Sirius dog form and nodded. Sirius leapt into the massive tree whose branches were taking swings at them. No one ever got near the Whomping Willow because it was known to get somewhat violent. Sirius used his muscled dog form to dodge the branches. He reached the tree and pushed one of the knots in it. The massive beast like tree shuddered and then the branches went limp. The large black dog looked back at James and the stag and gave a look as if to say get a move on.

Remus couldn't move, he was doubled over in pain throughout his body and bones. He had to clench his teeth so he wouldn't let out a scream. He had to fight the transformation off until it was safe. The stag that was James beside him knelt down and bowed towards Remus. Remus climbed onto James' back, together they ran down the tunnel hidden by the tree and towards the shrieking shack. Once there James set him on the ground. Sirius curled on the ground as the transformation begun. He could feel his spine elongating and reshaping, it felt as though his body was rejecting itself. After that he could remember nothing but Sirius and James' miserable expressions, it was heartbreaking for them to see their friend in so much pain The only other things he could remember were his screams of agony and the immense pain shooting through his foreign body.

Many hours later before dawn, Sirius, James, and Remus came out of the tunnel and went back into the school in exhausted silence. Remus had asked them a few times what happened when he turned, but they always deflected it with some joke or another. Occasionally he could see long gashes on Sirius or James' body, which made him suspect it was not easy for them either. When questioned about the gashes they made an excuse about the violence of Slytherin Quidditch players. Remus believed that he had found the greatest friends anyone could ever possible have, there was no way he could ever repay either of them.

Before re-entering the castle Sirius thought he saw a figure with a candle in a Dungeon window looking out at them. He was way too tired and dismissed the thought quickly.

**leave some comments :) **


	6. Amongst the Tall Trees

It's the sixth week of school thought Sirius anxiously. The time had come. He couldn't wait. It was time for first event. It was his time to shine. Just like the day of drawing of the names Sirius was quite nearly shaking with excitement. Sirius was the polar opposite of relaxed James.

"Please don't tell m your going to act like this every contest" James begged Sirius cutting Sirius off in whatever he was talking about now.

Sirius had been talking incessantly to Remus, James, and Lily about his various theories as to what the competition would be. The only person who actually cared to listen and contribute to his rants was Reese. Sirius had not shut up about it in days.

They all walked into the Great Hall James' hand in Lily's, Reese's hand in Sirius', and Remus who was looking wishful at Hufflepuff Nymphadora. Dumbledore already stood in front of the settling school.

"Will the competitors come to the front and sit on the benches here by their school color?" Dumbledore announced.

Sirius, James, and Reese left their friends to meet Eliza Harrison their fellow competitor smiling confidently. They all sat on a very simple red bench with golden yellow etchings of two lions on the back board.

"The first competiton will be the one that embodies the characteristics of the Gryffundor house. This first challenge will test each the bravery of each and every competitor." Dumbledore boomed his voice reverberating throughout the large Hall.

Sirius ganced around at the other competitors and saw all of them wore either nonchalant or excited. No one looked at all fearful.

"I know that none of you," Dumbledore said to the competitors, but still loud enough for everyone to hear, "Will heed an old man's warnings, but be aware that this is a challenge to push the best of the best to their limit. Although it may not seem this way, there is no shame in forfeiting in the middle of the competition, you can rejoin your teammates next challenge." Dumbledore paused glancing between each of the contestants. "Well we might as well tell you about the first challenge," Dumbledore continued, "It will take place starting eight a.m. Sunday morning, so about one and a half days from now. There will be twenty-one small banners placed in the arena of our first competition. The goal is quite simple collect as many as you can. Once one person on your teams holds on to the banner for five minutes it will change to the colors of the person's respective team and disappear. It will reappear here so we can tally the scores throughout the competition. You will have twenty-four hours in the arena, but if it becomes too difficult for you, you may send blue sparks high into the air. You will be collected, but your teammates will remain. Your arena is an extremely dangerous one, full of mysterious beasts and those who wish you harm. Along with those who will wish you harm you may find some who will help you, but they may deceive you so be aware," Dumbledore paused to observe the room, everyone was on the edge of their seats.

"The Forbidden Forest," Dumbledore let the words hang ominously in the air.

Everyone but the contestants themselves started to whisper excitedly. The contestants remained calm, but considerably less than before.

"The rules are as thus, anything goes. You shall have until eight a.m. Sunday to prepare. This is not an excuse to ditch any obligations or detentions," Dumbledore said looking pointedly at Sirius, who was thankful he had been careful not to get in trouble this past week.

" Get rest and good luck," Dumbledore finished dismissing the students.


	7. Do Not Fall

Sirius had actually spent the day and a half before the competition studying. This was one of the first times anyone had ever heard Sirius tell someone to be quiet because he was studying. Normally he was the one being told. James remained very self-confident and joked with Lily and Remus that Sirius had probably learned more in the past day then he had in his whole Hogwarts career, as well as the longest that he had gone without getting in trouble. Sirius had reviewed anything he could think of, but mainly Defense against the Dark Arts. He even studied Herbology, which he had never shown the slightest inclination towards, which got even Reese grinning.

The time had come to enter the forest. The day before, Gryffindor had creamed Slytherin in Quidditch when James had done a daredevil dive to catch the snitch. This had put Sirius in an especially cheerful mood. Each group had been given uniforms to wear. The Gryffindor's outfit included dark red cloaks, to help conceal themselves in the forest, with the Gryffindor insignia on the back. A light gold shirt was worn underneath with two diagonal red bands. On the sleeve was a patch that showed the number of banner's each team had collected. They also wore loose red pants, which ended in nearly knee-high brown lace up boots. The whole get up reminded him of his Quidditch uniform. Each team had the same outfit, but with their own respective colors. Each contestant also had their wand ready in hand. Sirius' wand was a thirteen-inch, swishy wand that was made from spruce with a dragon heartstring core. It resembled a sandpapered branch, a simplicity that Sirius enjoyed.

The contestants stood in groups at the edge of the forest, some looked eager others looked wary. Dumbledore was recounting the rules and the only new addition to the rules was a list of spells that could not be used, which were mainly seriously disabling curses.

At last Dumbledore announced the word Sirius had been awaiting,

"Begin," the old man announced seeming to look directly at each contestant at once as some teams began to run into the forest while others walked warily in. Among those running were the Slytherins.

Sirius looked around to Reese, James, and Eliza, whom looked excited. They were the last standing outside of the forest, just as they had planned. They strode into the forest calmly. The Gryffindors do like to put on a show. Besides the dramatic effect their entrance had they wanted to watch where the other teams were going to try to make sure that they would not accidentally come upon them. Once they were far enough into the forest they stopped.

"The Hufflepuffs went to the far right, I think they are going to try staying on the edges of the forest," Reese announced.

"The Ravenclaws headed towards the far left, but I think they will go deeper into the forest soon," James followed Reese.

"And the Slytherins started to run headlong into the forest, who knows where they plan on going," Sirius said contemptuously.

"I think we should head towards the north-east which is that way," Eliza suggested pointing towards the left, "It's between the direction the Slytherins and the Hufflepuffs went, so we shouldn't encounter either. I think if we were to run into the Slytherins here it would mean serious trouble," Eliza finished to the agreeing nods of her teammates.

Sirius glanced towards Reese nervously, if anything happened to her… If she got hurt… Sirius didn't have the slightest idea what he would do, he didn't want to think of it. Sirius was reassured by the knowledge that Reese was towards the top of the class. She could beat Sirius if she wanted too, but he would never admit it. She could handle herself. Sirius thought this as he was staring blankly at her. She shifted and he was brought back to his senses. James had said something.

"We shouldn't run blindly through this forest, who knows what we might come upon. We have an entire day to do this. We have time to be careful," James repeated as they started walking at a fast pace.

Sirius wanted to run, but he knew James was probably right.

The team had been walking for over hour and surprisingly not run into anything dangerous yet. They also had not come across a single banner. They did, however, come across some creatures they had not seen before. Eliza had spotted a nest of bowtruckles in a tree. Sirius thought the little creatures were amusing with their tiny little leather bodies and oversized spindly fingers. Reese had even spotted a unicorn in amongst the trees. Sirius had to admit it was a beautiful creature, but they really did not have time for that right now. Their badges already showed that Ravenclaws had gotten their first one. Sirius was about to say they were moving way too slowly, when Reese's hand shot into the air.

"Look there!" Reese's hand was pointing to something high in the air. At first Sirius thought she was pointing into the sky, so he started to look around for a Hippogriff or another flying creature.

"Not the sky you idiot, the tree! The top of that tree! It's there, a banner, I swear!" Reese exclaimed her excitement growing.

Sirius could make it out now. She was right! The banner was hung against the branch of a massive tree. It rose before the team daring them to try to get to the top. It was not very large, and it was divided into quarters by the colors of each of the houses. There was an insignia in each of the color sections as well as a larger one in the center. Sirius assumed it was the sign for each of the houses and in the middle the one for Hogwarts.

"Should we knock the tree down?" Sirius wondered.

"No, that's going to make way to much noise. Who knows what it will attract!" Reese countered.

"We could silence it," Sirius added,

"Still who knows who might see us," James argued.

"I guess your right, if someone can think of a way to get me up there I'll go," Sirius said giving up on his idea.

"We could use _Levicorpus,_" James suggested chuckling.

"Oh you would enjoy that wouldn't you James? Dangling me by my foot to get me up a tree? Yeah, that's hilarious," Sirius replied dripping sarcasm.

James found this retort hilarious and started laughing to Sirius' great annoyance. While this was happening Eliza was looking around thoughtfully.

"I know what to do!" Eliza announced catching the attention of James, Reese, and Sirius. "Sirius if you hang on to that branch there," Eliza said pointing to a large fallen branch, "Just pretend it's a broom, I know you are good at flying. I can just levitate you up and down simple as that," Eliza says, her reason so sound no one can think of a reason to say not to. "Don't worry I have lifted heavier before," Eliza said to Sirius; as she noticed his worried expression.

Sirius' walked towards the branch his emotions switching between fear and excitement. They would be the second group to get a flag, He began to feel less anxious, until he remembered he was going to be held in the air at least a hundred feet up on a stick. Not a magical flying stick like his broom, but a plain old stick.

"_Wingardium Leviosa," _Eliza annunciated and stick flew to meet Sirius.

Reese ran over and kissed him lightly on the cheek for luck. He climbed up on the long, thick branch and Reese gave him one last confident look. She tried to look very confident, but Sirius could see the worry in her eyes. He always could see her true feelings.

Eliza then lifted Sirius into the air. It was working pretty well. Sirius kept his eye on the banner. His eye on the prize. Looking down was not an option. When Sirius was lifted above the tree line he was amazed by how large the forest really was. He had a view at that moment that very few Hogwarts students ever got. Looking back he could see Hogwarts and the lake dotting the distance. They really walked quite far. In the other direction the forest seemed to stretch on till the very edges of his vision. Looking closer to his location he saw a tree fall and various misfired spells coming out of the forest. A fight of some sort was going on there. Who fighting against what, Sirius could not guess. Although it did tell him they needed to avoid that area.

He looked back to the tree and saw the banner quickly approaching. Near the banner was a fairly sturdy looking branch. Sirius reached out his hand and grabbed the branch so hard his knuckles turned white. He let go of the suspended branch while reaching for the unmoving one. He took hold of it and swung himself up on it and inched his way to the banner. He did not look down, but if he had he would have been able to make out the worried faces of Eliza and Reese. James was confident Sirius would be fine. They had gotten into a lot worse situations. Sirius had once hung outside a Gryffindor tower window for thirty minutes. If someone had asked why he had done that he would have told an elaborate story of spying on some seventh years.

He grabbed the banner. He had the first one in his hand at last. This made him excited, which led to him being less careful. Moving back down the branch he clutched the banner in one hand while he reached for the suspended branch with the other. He grabbed it by the end. As he grabbed the end of the branch he slipped off of the one he was already on. All of his weight was put onto the end of the hanging branch. It turned vertical. The swing was too much for Sirius. His hand slipped and dropped like a stone. Even though he was over a hundred feet in the air the fall was but a few seconds. The wind whistled past. Sirius could not move or think as he fell. In those few seconds he was blank. Later he would recount that he had seen his life flash before his eyes. It was not true, not one bit. He was nearly completely blank, the only image in his mind was one of a girl about his age. She had medium length warm auburn hair. It was straight, but at the end it twisted into gentle curls. Light shone in her eyes at some nonexistent joke. He had no idea who she was at that moment.

"_Arresto Momentum!" _A voice shouted at the edge of Sirius' hearing. The ground that was racing at him moments ago had slowed. He knew the face when he hit the ground. The person to whom the face belonged was racing towards him. It was Reese.


	8. Eight

Sirius awoke with a start. His whole body tensed and he leapt to his feet. It was the sort of awkward awakening a person has when they have a dream about falling. Oh wait, that was more than a dream was it not? Sirius looked around and saw James and Eliza sipping water from some transfigured cups. Reese had leapt up and Sirius was nearly knocked back to the ground. She held him in a tight bear hug that, if her hug had not pinned his arms, he would have reciprocated.

"You are really lucky I always happen to be around to save you," James said smiling.

James was the one who had shouted the spell to slow him down Sirius realized. Being the captain of the Quidditch team, James had to know spells like that to help avoid injuries, especially during the tryouts. Funny stuff tryouts were.

"How long have I been out?" Sirius demanded worriedly.

"Only about twenty minutes, we needed that time to rest anyhow, and to fix you up," Reese told Sirius letting him go.

"Was I really that bad?" Sirius asked hoping the answer was no.

"You had a broken nose, I voted for letting it be. You looked more rugged that way. It was quite a laugh," James chuckled.

Always the funny one Sirius thought. Ah, well that's why they were such good friends. He checked the badge on his arm and was relieved to see that it was only the Ravenclaws and themselves who had gotten any banners yet.

"Let's get a move on then," Sirius said impatiently.

They continued to walk for a while. It was nearing twelve and the joy of getting their first banner had long since worn off. Every team had managed to get their first banners. They all were agitated. They had deviated into a deeper part of the forest in an attempt to avoid the fight Sirius had seen.

As they walked each of them looked around the forest. Although all of them had been in the forest before, they had never come close to going this far in. Eliza was the only one of the four who had gone in with the permission of the school. Although it was midday very little sunlight reached the floor, giving everything an eerie glow. The trees loomed over them around a hundred feet in the air each. Very little grew on the forest floor, for a carpet of dead leaves and branches smothered what did try to grow. No matter where they stepped they could not avoid making noise, but on the bright side nothing could sneak up on them either. Occasionally they heard the crunch of leaves further off. When that happened they stood absolutely still.

"I think something's wrong here," Reese whispered only loud enough for her team to hear. "I've been seeing spider webs for a while, but all of a sudden they have changed. There were small spider webs here and there, which was normal, but now it's just not. Look up. I think we should go. _Now_." Reese finished nervously. Everyone else had been either looking at their feet or at eye-level around the forest. None but Reese bothered looking up.

"Bloody Hell," James muttered. The trees above them were a tangle of white. Colossal webs connected the trunks. In the webs James could make out various small birds and animals. Gross, whatever made these webs James decided to try his best to avoid.

"Damnit!" Sirius nearly yelled to the immediately shushing of the others. He had yet to look up to the webs, instead he was looking angrily at the badge on his arm. The marker for the Slythrins had gone up to two. Slytherins were in the lead. His blood pounded. He would have said something if his thoughts were not interrupted by a scream in his ear. He looked up and every thought about Slytherins vanished.

At least a hundred huge creatures were descending from the leafy ceiling. Before they could make out any details they heard a far off clicking that grew in intensity as the monsters approached. Within moments they could figure out that the noise was coming from the pincers of enormous spiders. Sirius recognized these creatures. They were from a recently formed colony of acromantulas. Acromantulas sometimes have a leg span of up to fifteen feet. From his point of view they seemed a lot larger. They were already menacing enough considering their size, but to top it off their pincers contained highly poisonous venom. The team started to sprint.

"Stop Running," hissed the spiders sounding more like snakes.

"We only want to talk," murmured other acromantulas.

"We're friendly don't worry," chanted the rest.

James, Eliza, and Reese started to slow believing the beasts. They did have very startled expressions at the fact the monsters could speak, but nonetheless they slowed.

"DON'T STOP RUNNING!" Sirius shouted. "They are CARNIVOROUS, LIARS! Yes they can talk I think we have established that. Not to mention they are also highly POISONOUS!"

They all took their wands out and start simultaneously shooting spells behind them and doubling their pace.

"_Stupefy" _screamed Eliza.

"_Repello" _bellowed James.

"_Impedimenta" _yelled Reese.

"_Reducto" _barked Sirius.

Barriers that were set in their way by James and Reese slowed the spiders, which were also blasted apart by a furious Sirius, and stunned by a frightened Eliza. The spiders were slowed, but not stopped.

The four ran and continued shooting spells at the acromantulas. It was to no use, whenever one of the giants fell another was in its place within seconds. Adrenaline pumped through their blood giving them energy that they did not have. Looking down at his wand Sirius remembered the spell they could use to escape this situation. The red sparks would save them. Sirius nearly turned to the others to remind them of this, but he shut his mouth before the words escaped. What if they could still pull through? What if one of them freaked and sent the distress signal? He could not let that happen, under no circumstances would they return humiliated to Hogwarts.

"The webs aren't ending! There are just more and more!" Eliza screeched between gasps for air.

"I know, I know, but we got to keep running. Look at them all!" James bellowed.

A hard thump came from behind. Sirius glanced back and stopped in his tracks. Reese was on the ground scrambling her wand just out of her reach. Her boot was caught in a web, her fingers desperately pulling at the sticky substance holding her leg. She turned to look for help her face desperate.

'Eliza! James! HELP!" Sirius begged at the running figures. He had turned to sprint at Reese the moment he saw her. Not thinking of the army of spiders hurtling toward him, he snatches her wand out of the dirt and tossed it to her. At the same moment he shoots _Reducto _at the webs holding Reese captive. He grabbed her arm and yanked her up, no time to be gentle. The monsters were nearly on them.

Both James and Eliza had spun around at hearing Sirius' plea. They shot furious spells at the beasts. They successfully held back the spiders long enough for the two to catch up. Sirius supported Reese for the next few steps, and soon they were able to continue their mad dash.

Sirius was scared, not for himself, but for Reese, James, and even Eliza. Sirius knew that they could handle themselves. He had seen them get out of sticky situations before, but it still terrified him, this fear is something he would never admit. This time he seriously considered the red sparks, the escape route, but his pride prevented him. Even the thought of giving up was mortifying. It had finally hit him; this tournament was not a game. Far from it.

The group was getting tired now, they did not know how long they could keep it up. Beneath the sound of their panting, Sirius could hear the incessant clicking of the spiders pincers, it was maddening. They have been running for what seemed like forever, but it really could not have been more than ten minutes. Adrenaline was the only thing that kept them moving. Sirius took a risk and looked up and saw the webs were lessening. They were exiting the spider's massive nest! He was about to turn and say this to his companions when he heard one of them cry out.

"JAMES! ELIZA! WATCH OUT!" Reese had cried out. James and Eliza were not facing forward, they had turned around to send spells at the spiders. The two fell straight into one of the biggest webs yet. Reese grabbed Eliza's arm and pulled, but the web held her tight.

Sirius grabbed at James. He touched the web in an attempt to pry it off. The webs were slightly off white moist ropes that crisscrossed in imperfect patterns. The ropes were strong and sticky, the type of sticky that borders superglue. Sirius could barely pull his hand away it was that powerful, he would never be able to pull James out. Sirius took out his wand and shot _Reducto _at the webs, but it barely seemed to help. Glancing at Reese, Sirius saw how frantic and futile her attempt to free Eliza seemed.

"RUN," James shouted at Sirius, the acromantulas were nearly on them. Sirius was well aware of this, for the clicking had increased.

"You are a bloody git sometimes, you know that?" Sirius replied with a grin that was totally out of place. Sirius would never leave James, he should know that by now. Sirius would never leave any of his friends, no way he would leave anyone to get all he glory.

Ignoring James' protests, Sirius turned to face his attackers. Wand in hand, Sirius looked at the beasts that may end him. His heart felt a though it was attacking his ribcage it was beating so hard. Partially aware of a soft hand yanking at his own, Sirius stared into the inky eyes and grasping pincers of the massive being hurtling toward him. The only sign that betrayed his fear was the slightest shaking of his wand. He raised the wand and nearly shot the red sparks into the air when something odd happened.

Abruptly the spiders stopped. Sirius' first thought was that time had frozen, but the existence of his own thoughts and his hammering thoughts proved otherwise. The one in front collapsed, its legs going everywhere, Sirius nearly laughed it looked so comical. At second glance there was a long thin wooden shaft sticking out from above the monsters eyes. An arrow.

**hope you have enjoyed it so far! Taking a break to work on Merlin, but i will finish it do not worry! **


End file.
